Friday, October 14, 2005

Polenta Fries

Crispy polenta fries with barbecue sauce for dipping, cauliflower trees and baby carrots, hickory- smoked toasted soy nuts, and two Golden "Uh Oh" Oreos (uh oh, there's an open package of Oreos in my house...). In the silverware space I tucked in a rolled-up maze game for a surprise. Beverage: soymilk, oj & apricot smoothie.Verdict: These polenta fries and bbq were perfect. The maze was a hit, too; he was expressing regret the other day that his food doesn't come with cartoons and puzzles on it like the prepackaged stuff other kids get. He'll be finding more stickers and fun things in his lunch box now. 5 stars.

I just bought a bulk amount of polenta. I had no idea you could make fries with it though. I was just going to top mine with roasted vegetables. I'll give these a whirl as well. The maze is a cute idea!

Hi, stefania, I just double-checked the package and the Oreos are vegan. Perhaps you're right and there is a difference in Canada. The Uh-Oh, Golden, and Chocolate Mint Oreos that I've checked at our local grocery are vegan. Newman O's are also vegan (and better, I think).

I absolutely love the polenta fries!! This is probably my favorite lunch so far.. I've been reading through all your blog postings but never got to commenting. I did post about this blog in the updates page on my site awhile ago though.. I don't see how anyone with a blog/ update page wouldn't.. keep up the amazing work!!

I'm really enjoying your site, although my family aren't vegetarian. It has really inspired me to make more interesting lunches for my kids and we've switched to containers from bags which is wonderful(I got mine from the container store and put them into their existing lunchboxes - works great and they all have lids).

I have two questions:1. Does your child eat all these items cold or are there heat-up options at school?2. Do you make mini batches, have friends over to eat very often, or are you freezing extra items? I see you had your mom over to help with the phyllo triangles!

A bag of Polenta has been stairing me in the face at the grocery store for weeks, I just might have to buy it finally! Although, they have done away with their health food section and mixed in everything with the other grocery items and it will take me FOREVER to find each item rather than a quick in and out BLAH! I feel a letter to the manager coming on. Oh well at least the items are still available, eh?

Anyhow, sorry for the vent session but thanks for posting the lunch & Recipe! CHEERS!

I am new to being a vegetarian mom. Our son informed us less then 2 weeks ago that he is vegetarian now *grin* I'm fine with that and am happy to have found your blog because I have NO IDEA what to feed him now. I LOVE the idea of putting a surprise in the lunch to make up for missing out on the things on the pre-packaged foods. I have instilled this love of animals in my son and it actually is a blessing to me that he has taken a stance for what he believes in. Good for him !!!!! I might just follow in his foot steps. I am planning on looking over all of your posts up to now to get some ideas. Thank you for taking the time to do this.

1. He doesn't have access to a microwave, so most items are eaten cold or room temperature. He does bring a thermos for hot items like soups and stews. If it's something like the polenta fries, I make them in the morning and send them wrapped in parchment or foil to keep the heat in as much as I can (the lunchbox is zipped up in an insulated tote).

2. Usually my husband and I sit down together at lunchtime and eat the same thing Little shmoo is having, so we don't have many leftovers (except in the case of the faux meats -- Little shmoo finishes those all off himself, as he loves them and we...don't!). Those Greek triangles were soooo good, though, I had to make a huge batch and share.

While Oreos can be vegan, you have to watch the trans fat. According to the Nabisco website: "A serving of our regular Oreo cookies -- which is three cookies -- contains 7 grams of fat, 1.5 of which is saturated fat, and 2.5 of which is trans fat." I am not sure about other kinds of Oreos since Nabisco has yet to put trans fat on their labels. Back to Nature, however, makes a delicious, trans fat free, organic, Oreo-like, cookie.

In Canada, Oreos are made by Kraft subsidiary Mr. Christie. They are different--I noticed the differene in my non-vegan days when I moved from Toronto to the US. They advertise their Golden Oreos as trans fat free, but the website does not say if they have milk products in them.

It's interesting how the same product can be different in different areas. Happily, all the vegan Oreos at my local store are now trans-fat free. I've also noticed more crackers and chips are making the switch to trans-fat free.

Yikes!!! Someone please tell me, are trans-fats somehow non-vegan? Are these fats secretly things that only come from animal products, like cholesterol and collagen and stuff? Or is the issue just that they're not so good for you?

Personally I was always a little freaked that Oreos weren't kosher (maybe they are now, haven't eaten them in a while). I mean, what do you have to do to a cookie to make it non-kosher? Visions of pig lard dancing in my head....

all depends where the oreos are made if their vegan, factories can change ingredients if they want, but mostly they are vegan these days. they use to have whey they dont anymore. but yeah some bags are some arent!